HTC One gets a Chinese clone before the real model is even out

On February 19, the new HTC One phone debuted with fancy launch parties in New York and London, and its Chinese clone debuted with less fanfare but more copyright violation. Although HTC kept its new phone’s specs a secret until right before the launch-and no one had even seen a photo of the phone’s back prior to the 19th-intrepid Chinese counterfeiters beat them to the punch. The ‘GooPhone One’, an exact model of the HTC One, was released just before HTC model’s official launch.After seeing a few pre-release images, designers and tinkerers at GooPhone (whose website looks like a bizarro-world of Apple and Samsung products) were able to turn out a copy in time for HTC’s official announcement. CNet reports:

GooPhone is well known in China for producing remarkably similar knock-offs of popular smartphones and made headlines last year when it threatened to sue Apple over the iPhone 5 design patents in China.[…]The speed with which GooPhone manages to clone hardware seems to get more impressive with each release. Last fall, its version of the iPad Mini was revealed shortly after the smaller slate was announced by Apple, and this time around it’s shoved its version of a flagship phone out into the ether before HTC has even confirmed the existence of such a clone-worthy device.

GooPhone’s lawyers don’t exactly understand copyright law and previously tried to sue Apple for infringing on their designs (seriously, they make these). Maybe GooPhone will take a swing at HTC next.